DUAL GOLDEN SCRIPT

Hà Nội, Vietnam, 2010 - Leica M7, Summilux 35, Fuji Reala * I shot this golden scene during the celebrations of the 1000th anniversary of Hanoi in the Văn miếu temple of literature. How many people could read and write today near-extinct chữ Nôm, the former Vietnamese script? Likely only a few dozens. The wonderful Nôm ideograms here were written by Trần Đức Cảnh, a late master calligrapher of Hanoi, a great friend of mine. Invented mainly by Portuguese Jesuit Francisco de Pina, chữ Quốc ngữ romanized writing system has burried a thousand years of cultural past, and insidiously formatted significantly the thoughts of an authentic people.